Facebook Follies

[Finn]

I de-friended (unfriended?) someone a few months ago. She confronted me about it by sending me a message. I did not reply. I really just didn't want any contact with her anymore (we were never close friends or anything).

About a month later, I was at a bar with some friends. I saw her walk in. As soon as she saw me, she started crying! Then she stormed out of the bar, and I haven't seen her since.

Facebook should not be taken that seriously.

I've defriended a whole bunch over the past few years, reasons ranging from being weirded out by one's status updates, to not caring to a toxic ex of my fiancee's....

But none of them ever sent me an email, though some of them did try to un-defriend me almost immediately. But I got angry emails after ingoring a friend request from a certain person more than once (same person).

 

[Major Chord]

I use Facebook to catch up with my friends...we may see each other every day, but we don't really get a ton of time to hang out. Face-face time is always better in my opinion, though.

And my incentive to keep my FB clean (not that I would post crap I wouldn't want others to see anyway), is the fact that I have a couple of former teachers as friends. Always good to be reminded that I need to filter my thoughts.

The only people I've blocked are my sister (we're not on good terms at all, and I want her to keep out of my business. I never requested her as a friend, just outright blocked her when she signed up), and my best friend's little sister, because she's too young to legally have one anyway, and again, I don't need her poking around in my business.

 

[jamestyler]

I was actually befriended by someone who I think was trying to get hold of someone else with a very similar name to mine (and, as it happened, the very same birthday). She's still on my friends list, but lives on the other side of the world.

I did that with twitter - someone I used to work with added me on Facebook, she asked me to add her to twitter and I found someone with the same name, location and with her uncle on the friends list.

Ended up being the completely wrong person and it took me a week to notice.

 

[The Borg Queen]

http://failbooking.com/ For The Win!

 

[Michael Chris]

Honestly the biggest help is learning people's names! I introduce myself to a LOT of people every week, and I have a very hard time remembering names with people that I meet, so whenever someone adds me on facebook I have a much easier time remembering it! Oh, and finding rides since I don't have my driver's license. Just post that I need a ride and boom there's offers

 

[Capn Flukie]

I think the best part of Facebook is that I've gotten to know the "real faces" behind the posters here on the BBS.

Frightening, isn't it?

You people are even bigger nerds than I had originally thought.

*poke*

 

[Gryffindorian]

I didn't care for FB at all when I first signed up using my real name (First Name, Last Name). I wasn't really big on networking sites; I still have a Myspace account that I haven't checked in ages. So I updated my profile, posted some gibberish, and got a bunch of application invites and useless posts from co-workers, one of whom was the person who invited me to sign up in the first place. It didn't last very long; I deactivated the account in a matter of days.

Now last year, FB started to gain popularity among my family members. So I created a new account using an "alias" for fun, in hopes of not being stalked by pesky co-workers. I've had that account for several months now and consider it my primary account.

Pretty soon I started getting invites from friends of friends, people I really didn't know in person, didn't know too well, or didn't care to know at all. Being the polite person that I am, I accepted (and still accept) invites from friends of friends until it came to the point wherein half of my contacts were people I didn't really interact with. I thought about creating a secondary "more intimate" account only for family members and close friends, which I did, but it's superfluous at this point, since I still use my primary account 90% of the time.

Then recently I remembered the first "real name" account I created from last year. As you may know, "reactivating" an account is as fast and easy as deactivating it. Surely enough, that one is up and running again, with a combination of co-workers, family, friends, and old acquaintance.

So now I have three existing accounts, which is against the rules, so I plan on canceling at least one of them.

 

[think]

I have a FB thing but with the internet getting over-networked I had my buzz factor at gmail getting my youtube posts as well as fb and the twitter was getting the youtube movies ., and posting the exact same movie to the google buzz thing double posts for the same thing because twitter was linked to google buzz. I disconnected my twitter from youtube so now they have no clue at twitter what I do @ youtube .,

 

[TheBrew]

I defriended my brother. I was starting to get sick of his constant holier-than-thou attitude.

Overall, facebook has been a good way for me to keep up with my old friends, especially since I moved coasts.

 

[Gryffindorian]

I defriended my brother. I was starting to get sick of his constant holier-than-thou attitude.

Overall, facebook has been a good way for me to keep up with my old friends, especially since I moved coasts.

I defriended one of my sisters at some point. I didn't really like her posting habits. She was always posting replies and comments on my wall, but when I did the same to hers, she would delete my posts. She only posted pictures of her family. Why not just choose Picasa or one of these photo-hosting sites?

 

[Kestra]

That's harsh. My sister defriended me.

 

[Crusher Disciple]

I'm glad I'm an only child.

 

[Aragorn]

One annoying thing about Facebook is that the ads will always be targeted at however you set your profile. If you're single, you'll get flooded with singles ads. If you're single and over 30, you'll get flooded with "mature singles" ads. If you have a kid, you'll be flooded with ads aimed at parents. If you're engaged, the list just keeps on going and going. And saying you don't like the ads changes nothing. Often times they'll replace the ad with the exact same ad. Even if you say an ad is offensive, you'll still end up seeing it again and again and again.


Facebook Ads Target You Where It Hurts
By Rachel Beckman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 3, 2008

My Facebook page called me fat.

Maybe it's my age, my sex or the fact that it knew I was engaged, but the site decided I was a gal who needed to drop a few pounds. And it wasn't shy about its tactics.

.....

Every time I logged in to my home page, Facebook's ads screamed at me with all the subtlety of a drill sergeant: "MUFFIN TOP." This particular ad had a picture of someone with said affliction. For those blissfully unacquainted with the slur, it's when a woman wears too-tight jeans and a roll of flab hangs over her waistband.

.....

After my quaint status update about the muffin top ad, Facebook got even more vicious, like a schoolyard bully provoked by my initial reaction. With the knowledge that I was engaged to be married, the site splashed an ad across the left side of the screen playing into a presumed vulnerability. Do you want to be a fat bride? You'd better go to such-and-such Web site to learn how to lose weight before the big day.

.....

A drop-down menu gave choices: Was the ad "misleading, offensive or pornographic?" I chose offensive. Facebook thanked me for the feedback and said it would take appropriate action, though I shouldn't expect any notification about this action.

Nothing changed. Facebook continued its onslaught of muffin-top and fat-bride taunts. I averted my eyes and tried to remember that saying about rubber and glue. I didn't spiral into a body-image crisis, nor did I start to diet. But there's got to be some kind of psychological toll wrought by so many weight-loss images each week.

.....

I assumed that the diet ads would subside after I changed my relationship status from "engaged" to "married" in May. They did. I now receive these:

"Trying to get pregnant? Visit our site now. We're a national network of fertility specialists treating male and female infertility."

Thanks, Facebook, for calling me barren.

 

[Gryffindorian]

So true.

 

[jamestyler]

I defriended my brother. I was starting to get sick of his constant holier-than-thou attitude.

Overall, facebook has been a good way for me to keep up with my old friends, especially since I moved coasts.

I defriended one of my sisters at some point. I didn't really like her posting habits. She was always posting replies and comments on my wall, but when I did the same to hers, she would delete my posts. She only posted pictures of her family. Why not just choose Picasa or one of these photo-hosting sites?

I had to defriend my sister just because of her grammer. I'm not perfect, but I don't care. If anyone types in 'txt spk' I will have to hurt them.

I also had to rject a request from my mother. She doesn't need to know what I do.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

That's harsh. My sister defriended me.

Ouch. Bitch. I guess i'm lucky in that while my brothers are on FB, they really don't update all that much.

 

[An Officer]

Facebook is a minefield, I have thoughts of deleting my entire account on a regular basis.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I was talking to my sister (in real life) and she was complaining how difficult it was to stay in touch her daughter who is living in London. She said that it was too expensive to phone her.

I knew her daughter is on Facebook and I suggested my sister joined and keep in touch with her daughter that way. My sister looked horrified and said "No girl wants their mother to see their Facebook".

I commented that both my sons are my friends on Facebook and I know plenty of mother/daughters who use Facebook to keep in touch. But my sister insisted that her daughter wouldn't want her mother to know what she got up to. Her daughter is 28 not a teenager.

 

[RoJoHen]

I commented that both my sons are my friends on Facebook and I know plenty of mother/daughters who use Facebook to keep in touch. But my sister insisted that her daughter wouldn't want her mother to know what she got up to. Her daughter is 28 not a teenager.

Eh, I certainly don't want my mom seeing my facebook page. She's already convinced I'm an alcoholic (even though the most she's ever seen me drink is 1 beer, and I haven't even touched alcohol in over a month). I'd hate her to see pictures of me, god forbid, at a bar!

 

[Ood Sigma]

I dislike Facebook (and for that matter all social networking sites). You won't see me with one at any point. If you want to keep up with me, send me an e-mail. If you don't know my e-mail, we can't be all that close to begin with. If you knew me in college/high school and we haven't spoken since then, there's a reason why.

Experiences on other sites that are less about connecting with so-called "real life" friends and more about connecting with others on the Internet with similar interests have taught me that making real friends this way is extremely difficult. Of the 100+ "friends" I had, I really only regret losing 1 or 2 of them when stopped using the site.

It's funny, the older I've gotten, the less and less human contact I need/want. I'm obviously close to my wife and one other friend, but I don't want to make friends with the neighbors, I don't want to talk to my parents or brothers any more than is necessary, etc. I'm friendly to and like most of my co-workers, and I'll participate in company events, but I'm not going to go out for drinks after work with them. I guess I'm just a grumpy old man.

As for Facebook, as much as I'm not going to personally use it, I can see its benefits. My wife uses it and it allows her to connect with her existing and potential future customers, so in that sense it's a good thing. It's just not for me.